Talking Points on the Environment #10

When it Comes to Auto Fuel Efficiency,
Environmentalists are Full of Hot Air

Environmentalists have called for increases in the Corporate
Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard -- a U.S. regulation designed
to increase fuel efficiency of U.S. manufactured automobiles --
as a means of reducing emissions of so-called "greenhouse
gases" and reducing air pollution. But evidence suggests
that greater fuel economy would have little impact on either air
pollution or greenhouse gas levels.

There is no link between air quality and fuel efficiency. According
to a 1992 report by the National Academy of Sciences, "Fuel
economy improvements will not directly affect vehicle emissions
of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and NOx because emissions standards
(in grams per mile) are identical for every passenger car or light
truck, as appropriate, regardless of fuel economy."

Stricter CAFE standards could actually hinder efforts to improve
air quality because those new technologies which hold the greatest
promise for improving fuel efficiency are not as clean as today's
technologies.

More stringent CAFE standards could also negatively affect
air quality by discouraging the purchase of newer, more environment-friendly
cars and trucks. Increasing the CAFE standard from its current
27.5 miles per gallon to 40 miles per gallon, for example, would
add as much as $2,750 to the price of a car, encouraging people
to continue using older vehicles.

Greater fuel efficiency would have little, if any impact, on
greenhouse gas emissions. Vehicles subject to CAFE standards contribute
just 1.5% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Raising CAFE
standards would reduce such emissions by four-tenths of one percent.
Further, higher CAFE standards could prove counter-productive.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, "Greenhouse
gas emissions from productions of substitute materials [used to
improve fuel efficiency], such as aluminum, could substantially
offset decreases of those emissions achieved through... fuel economy."

Even if increases in automobile fuel efficiency could produce
net reductions is emissions of greenhouse gases, such reductions
may be inconsequential. Most scientists do not believe global
warming is occurring. A 1992 Gallup survey of scientists involved
in climate research found that 53% of the respondents did not
believe global warming was occurring and 30% were undecided.

Information from Coalition for Vehicle Choice
and National Center for Public Policy Research's Dossier
on Dr. Carl Sagan, August 31, 1993

Issue Date: June 29, 1994

Talking Points on the Economy: Environment #10, published by
The National Center for Public Policy Research